Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement – the West Bengal
Scenario
S. K. Adhikari,
Chief Engineer, WBPCB
International Conference on
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement - the
Emerging Global Trend
March 19-20, 2013
Science City Mini Auditorium, J.B.S Haldane Avenue, Kolkata – 700046,
West Bengal, India
Environment Protection Agencies in India
Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI
Department of Environment
State Government
Central Pollution
Control Board
State Pollution Control Board/committee
West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Environmental
regulatory body in West Bengal , was constituted as per the
provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act,1974
Environmental Legislation in India
• Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and its amendment.
• Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and its amendment .
• Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and its amendment .
• Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement)
Rules, 2008 and its amendment.
• Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989 and its
amendment .
• Biomedical Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998 and its amendment.
• Plastic Wastes ( Management & Handling) Rules, 2011 and its amendment.
• Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000
• Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 and its amendment .
• Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 and its amendment .
• E-Waste ( Management & Handling) Rules,2011.
Board’s Mandate
• Implementation and execution of various Environmental Acts &
Rules.
• Advise the State Government on prevention, control or abatement
of various environmental pollution.
• Research related to environmental aspects.
• Awareness, training programs relating to pollution prevention and
control.
• Conflict resolution on environmental matters through public
hearing mechanism involving complainants and polluters.
WBPCB Network and Activities
 The Board operates through a network of two Circle Offices, ten
Regional Offices, one sub-Regional Office, one Central Laboratory
and five Regional Laboratories
• Implementation of different environmental Acts and Rules
• Consent administration
• Cess administration
• Monitoring and control of pollution from industrial and other sources
• Waste management
• Advising the Govt. on the different environmental issues.
• Monitoring of ambient air quality, water quality of surface water bodies
& ground water quality and ambient noise level
• Providing secretarial assistance to the SEIAA
• Redressal of public grievances
• Environmental awareness campaigns and training
• Implementation of externally aided projects
• Research and development activities
Permit Administration
•
WBPCB issues the following permission to the units:
 CONSENT TO ESTABLISH CONSENT TO OPERATE HAZARDOUS WASTE AUTHORISATION
 BIO-MEDICAL WASTE AUTHORISATION
 REGISTRATION FOR HW AND E-WASTE RECYCLERS.
 REGISTRATION FOR PLASTIC WASTE RECYCLERS.
• Enabling the industries to file application for ' Consent to
Establish' & 'Consent to Operate' through web-based
EMIS.
Environmental Monitoring
• Ambient air quality is monitored regularly
Automatic: 5 nos. Semi automatic : 24 nos.
AAAQM stations : RPM, CO,SO2, O3, HC.
Semi automatic : 12 parameters, including Benzene,
Benzo (a) pyrene, PAHs, Pb. Ni, As etc..
• River water quality is monitored in all major rivers of the state
Ganga, Damodar, Barakar, Rupnarayan, Mahananda, Teesta etc.
• Water quality of major lakes and water bodies are monitored
Rabindrasaravor, Sagardighi, Mirik Lake, Saheb Bandh etc.
• Groundwater quality is monitored at 49 locations in the state.
Redressal of Public Complaints
• The Board receives public complaints from different
quarters of the society
• The general public can lodge a complaint either by through
writing a letter about the complaint or can do so through
the 'Environment Management Information System' (EMIS)
of the Board.
• All complaints are acknowledged and actions are taken
promptly.
Surveillance and Enforcement
Inspection
Non-compliance
Identified
Regulatory
Process Initiated
Issuance of Show-Cause Notice
Technical Hearing in a quasi-judicial forum of the Board
Imposition of Bank Guarantee for ensuring time-bound compliance,
Imposition of Pollution Fines etc.
Consistent non-compliance leads to Closure and Disconnection of
Electricity in extreme circumstances.
After adoption of adequate pollution control measures, closure order is
Suspended with Restoration of Electricity and
industry remains under strict surveillance.
Various Judicial Forums in West Bengal
 Appellate Authority constituted by the Dept. of Environment,
GoWB.
 A special division bench, which is the nation's first Green
Bench, constituted by the chief justice of the Calcutta High
Court in the year 1996 to hear any kind of environmentrelated petitions from legal point of view.
 The National Green Tribunal (NGT) established in 2010 under
the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 for effective and
expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental
protection, conservation of forests and other natural
resources. The NGT has started operating in West Bengal
and cases on violation of environment and forest
conservation laws would be first heard by the tribunal before
a petitioner can move Supreme Court.
Compliance Assistance Initiatives
Dept. of Environment, GoWB & WBPCB set up an Environment Compliance
Assistance Centre (ECAC) in the state – (this Centre is the 1st of its kind in
India) with active support of AECEN and in collaboration with international
development agencies (World Bank, USEPA, USAID, ADB)
It is felt that an independent and reliable ECAC is the perfect answer to
reciprocate the regulatory
agencies’ efforts towards improved
environmental compliance and enhanced environmental consciousness
The primary purpose of ECAC is to assist industry( mainly SME) in –
• accessing information on environmental compliance, clean production
policies, programs and practices
• selecting appropriate clean technologies after evaluating a range of
available options that meet the local needs
• help industries to introduce good manufacturing practices and clean
technologies demonstrating cost effectiveness and environmental
benefits
Poor Environmental compliance of SSI : issues
• Lack of environmental awareness.
• Lack of adequate knowledge.
• Lack of cost effective sound process technology.
• Financial constraint.
• Inadequate space and other infrastructure for
adopting clean technology including pollution
control system.
Hazardous waste Management : Issues
•
Inadequate infrastructure of SSI for handling of Haz. Waste.
•
Waste collection and transportation over a large distances often
becomes a limiting factor for the TSDF.
•
HW import in disguise of Hazardous chemicals: cases of waste
solvents, waste plastics etc.
•
Specification of products recovered from recycling of HW is to be
defined specially, for the fuel oil, solvents, paints
•
Need for centralised data base for the HW generators for easy
reference.
•
Problem in quantification of HW for the SME sectors.
Bio-medical Waste Management : Issues
 Lack of motivation among the health care staffs
 Poor segregation of BMW at source
 Mixing of BMW with general wastes
 Disposal of BMW into municipal vat
 Burning of waste
 Insignificant generation of BMW
 Pilferage of BMW & selling
 Non-mutilation of disposable syringes etc.
 Phase out of mercury bearing medical equipment
Municipal Waste Management : Issues
1. Constrain of availability of suitable land, particularly in urban
areas.
2. Source segregation
3. Less priority sector before the urban local bodies
4. Lack of awareness among the citizen
5. Difficulties in enforcing service charges for collection of
MSW
6. Lack of economically feasible technology for treatment of
MSW of Indian cities
Plastic Waste Management : Issues
1. Awareness campaign among the students, citizen, shop owners, stockists
and other stake holders.
2. Alternative of plastic carry bags; like jute bag, cotton bag, paper bag,
etc.
3. Raids on manufacturers of plastic carry bags and other similar items.
4. Raids on shop owners, dealers, stockists, retailers.
5. Imposition of fines against the violators.
6. Involvement of association of plastic manufacturing units and brand
owners for setting up plastic waste collection centres and plastic waste
reprocessing units.
7. Records of plastic waste collected and disposed are to be maintained by
the municipal bodies for submission to the State Board.
8. Development of environmentally sound plastic recycling units.
West Bengal Pollution Control Board,
10 A, Block LA, Sector III, Bidhannagar, Kolkata 700098
www.wbpcb.gov.in
THANK YOU